Similar Circumstances
by everlovingdeer
Summary: He held out a folded piece of parchment out for me to take, "You dropped this." I took the parchment from him suspiciously. Clearing my throat, I turned to walk away from him. He called out after me, "You've been thrown away by your family too, huh?" I looked back to him, steps slowing as I spoke quietly, "You read it."
1. Similar Circumstances

**I've been trying to post this for the last three days and FINALLY the websites let me post it!**

How had things gotten to this point? How had the parents that I thought I knew, the ones that had raised me to be fair and non-judgemental changed so quickly? Merlin, how could _they_ of all people join the other side. Salazar, I still didn't believe it. But I had to. It was the truth.

The letter they'd sent me was evidence enough. I had waited until after curfew before sneaking into one of the abandoned classrooms to read it because there were always snooping eyes around. I certainly hadn't expected them to disown me because I refused to take the dark mark and pledge my allegiance to that psychopath.

The first time I had seen the horrendous black ink marring my father's arm was the first day of the Christmas holiday. I had walked downstairs to join them for breakfast only to receive the biggest surprise. Father had made no attempt to hide it from me but mother had. She had seen my horrified eyes, staring at father's arm and had promptly covered her own left arm. And they weren't ashamed about it! They had the audacity to declare that they had spoken to their beloved 'Dark Lord' about integrating me into their ranks. Well, I told them where they could do shove their beloved Dark Lord and had found myself promptly kicked out of the very home that I had grown up in.

If I had asked any of the students within the castle, hell if I'd asked any of the professors, then they would have hesitated before admitting that they expected me to be the one to join the other side. After all, I was the dark horse of the family – the only Slytherin from a family that had only ever produced Gryffindors. Almost anyone would have expected _me_ to be the one to join the death eaters and truthfully, I'd have thought that the chances of me joining the death eaters was more likely than my parents joining. No one would have expected it from the upright and honourable McCoy family.

Did my brother know? Salazar, he was an up and coming name in the auror field. If he had turned sides suddenly –

I shook my head fiercely. He wouldn't. Not him.

Looking back to the letter in my hands, I scrunched it up between my fists as tears started to gather in my eyes. I'd lost my parents over this insane pureblood supremacy – the same pureblood supremacy that they'd always told me to rise above. Merlin, what had gone wrong?

Wiping my tears away with the back of my hand, I took one last glance at the letter which told me that I wasn't welcome in our family home – the wards had been changed to not allow me in – and I folded it up, stuffing it deep inside my robe pocket. I wouldn't discard it, not yet; I'd need to use it to remind myself of the reason why I ended my connection with my parents. Whenever I felt my moral fibre falter, I'd use it to remind myself. Rising unsteadily to my feet, I headed towards the exit and planned to sneak back to the common room without being caught by any of the prefects.

Luck wasn't on my side.

The moment I stepped out of the classroom I ran into, not just a prefect, but the Head Boy, a prefect and two of their closest friends. Only I would have such bad luck. But then again, the marauders, as they called themselves weren't allowed out past curfew – well, two of them weren't anyway.

They saw me walking out of the classroom and I knew they'd seen me and yet they continued to block the entire hallway. There was no way I would be able to slip past them and that seemed to be their intention. I eyed Potter's Head Boy badge dirtily and promised myself that if the boy tried to stir up any trouble then I'd go straight to McGonagall and report him for abusing his power.

But, to my surprise, before any of them could make their usual Slytherin remark, Lupin stepped out of the line they'd been walking in and approached me with concern blatantly written across his features. I faltered a little at the unexpected expression and watched him suspiciously when he stopped in front of me.

"Have you been crying McCoy?" he asked gently, startling not only me, but his friends too. They tried to peek around Lupin's frame to get a look at me but I hurriedly hid my face from them. Salazar, how could I have forgotten to cast the glamour charm?

Lupin was waiting patiently for my answer and I cleared my throat. Reaching into my pocket to retrieve my wand, I cast a glamour charm and hid my reddened eyes.

"I don't see how that's any of your business," I threw back at him, dodging around him and walking away from the group of Gryffindors.

I kept my back to them, walking casually even when I wanted to run away. It wouldn't do to let them see that I was rattled and that was why I didn't turn even when Black called out after me. Only when I was certain that they couldn't see me any more, did I run the rest of the way to the common room. Upon entering the common room, I hurried to my dorm room and ignored the concerned calls of my name.

Preparing for bed, I shrugged out of my robes before pausing to find the letter that I had carelessly shoved away. I looked through both pockets and when I didn't find it, I grew worried and thought back to where I could have dropped it. Salazar, I had traversed across the entire castle on my trek to the common room, so how the hell was I going to find a single letter?

Merlin, I thought as I settled on the edge of my bed, I'd die of mortification if anyone found the letter. No one needed to know about my family's skeletons and they certainly didn't need to know that I'd been disowned. I didn't want people to treat me like they'd treated Black when the news of his family's abandonment broke.

* * *

Ever since I'd received the letter that ended everything, I found myself growing claustrophobic around anyone. It was like I constantly needed space to breathe and just to get away from everyone so I could lose myself in my thoughts. The astronomy tower had become my favourite place in the entire castle and my friends were growing extremely concerned. But I couldn't tell them anything, I refused to.

And so, after lessons finished for the day I made my way up to the astronomy tower and walked right up to the railings. Sitting down on the stone floor, I managed to fit my feet through the railing gap and dangled them over the side as I stared out. Crossing my arms, I pressed them against the middle bar of the railing, closing my eyes and resting my head on my arms as I let the wind carry my worries away for me.

Hogwarts was becoming stifling. Merlin, even the common room was proving difficult to stay in. The pureblood supremacy that was regularly discussed in the common room had begun to hit a little too close to home and I just needed to get away from it. I took in a deep lungful of clean air and opened my eyes, staring out at the castle grounds.

When would I hear back from my brother? I had owled him as soon as I returned to Hogwarts and told him the truth about what I had seen, what I had heard when I was back home but had yet to hear back from him. What if he didn't believe me? Or worse, what if they had gotten to him and convinced him to join their side?

A male figure settled next to me, mirroring my position as I sat and startled me out from my daze. I rose to my feet, planning to leave when I recognised Black's eyes watching me curiously. There was no point being here if I wasn't the only one here. I couldn't think properly if there was someone else here.

Black cleared his throat, staring up at me before reaching into his pocket. He held out a folded piece of parchment out for me to take, "You dropped this."

I took the parchment from him suspiciously, unfolding it quickly. My eyes roved over the familiar cursive handwriting and my heart stopped for one slow second. Clearing my throat, I turned to walk away from him.

He called out after me, looking over his shoulder at me, "You've been thrown away by your family too, huh?"

I looked back to him, steps slowing as I spoke quietly, "You read it."

He didn't answer me, he didn't need to. Instead he turned back to look at the view and I, despite all of my internal protests, when to sit beside him once again. I should have walked away and pretended that he'd seen nothing, that he'd said nothing to me but I couldn't. I couldn't leave here until I was sure that he wasn't going to blab to the entire school.

Neither of us spoke a word as I settled down next to him. We made no move either and a voice inside my head reminded me that he'd been through this before. Although, if you believed the rumours, he'd been abused by his parents before ultimately running away – it wasn't the same situation. And yet it was similar enough that I found myself wanting to reach out to him for advice.

"I don't know what to do," I admitted after a still moment, my quiet words carried away by the breeze.

He could have pretended to not hear them if he really wanted to. But he didn't. Instead he rested his chin on the middle bar of the railing, turning his head to look at me. I didn't dare look at him. Instead, I continued to stare out.

"Why did they do it?" he asked in the gentlest voice I'd ever heard him use, "I understood why my parents did it, but yours –"

"Because I disagreed with them about something," I murmured. I didn't have time to wonder why it felt right admitting my darkest secret to Black of all people, instead I was struck by the immense relief that came from finally having opened up to someone. Breathing was easier now, I realised with a start and even the claustrophobia that was brimming in the background disappeared completely. "My parents became death eaters."

He took in a sharp breath, looking at me with wide eyes, "But your parents were Gryffindors?"

"That doesn't automatically mean that they were the good guys," I muttered, turning my head towards him. "And Merlin, I know that no house is inherently good or bad but I hadn't expected my parents to go and brand themselves as loyal followers to the bloody psychopath."

Black hesitated to follow my words and I watched him closely. Clearing his throat, he offered hesitantly, "I know that it's hard – Godric, I've been there myself – but if you ever need anyone to talk to –"

I cut him off, arching an incredulous eyebrow as I finished sarcastically, "If I ever need to talk to anyone, come to you? I'm sorry but do you not remember the exploding dung bomb I gave you for Christmas last year?"

He was silent for a moment, watching me solemnly and I smarted under his gaze. Glancing away from me, he said firmly, "Yeah, if you ever need to talk or anything in general. Come to me."

I was silent, unsure how to react to that and mirrored his posture. Looking out to the view again, I didn't say or do anything when I felt him shuffle closer to me. I especially did nothing when I felt him rest a hand on top of mine in what I assumed was meant to be a calming gesture. So, I did nothing but let myself take the comfort that he was readily offering me.

It felt good to not be alone; if only for a little while.

* * *

Once again, the school holidays were rapidly approaching and I was left with nowhere to go. Merlin, what was I supposed to do about everything? There was still much left to handle and with still no word from my brother, it seemed like I would need to find a place to live? But where was the best place?

As I made my way back to the common room with my friends walking beside me, I paid little attention to the current conversation and instead thought about what I was going to do about living arrangements. Would it be better to go somewhere cheaper? But if I looked for cheap I'd end up in Knockturn Alley or somewhere similar and I really didn't want that. So where was I supposed to look then? Should I risk reaching out to contact my uncles and aunts? Would anyone believe me when they heard the truth?

"McCoy!"

I jumped slightly, startled by the loud call of my surname. Evidently, I wasn't the only startled one, as each of my friends stopped walking and we all turned to look at the approaching boy. Merlin's bleeding beard, why did Black keep approaching me? I understood that he wanted to help me and a small part of me was thankful that he cared but the larger part of me wanted to ask him why the hell he kept seeking me out when I was with my friends. The rumours were already stirring through the castle that there was something going on between the pair of us and whilst I tried to stamp these rumours out, he seemed to be doing no such thing. Bloody tosser.

"What do you want Black?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, eyes drifting to the three boys that he was walking with. The last time we had met up, he had sworn to me that he hadn't told his friends because he respected my wish to keep it a secret. But I wasn't sure if I believed that.

"To talk to you, obviously," he said bluntly, turning his gaze briefly towards my friends. With his most charming smile, he inclined his head in greeting. "Ladies."

Unbelievably the girls bloody tittered under his eyes and I rolled my eyes. "Well, what is it?"

He still didn't look at me. Instead he addressed the group of girls I had been walking with. "I hate to have to ask this, but can I borrow your ugly friend for a minute?"

My mouth parted as I glared at Black, affronted. Without so much as a single glance my way, my friends were waving goodbye to me and heading back to the common room. I watched as Black turned to his own friends who, after a few words, were walking past me and leaving the pair of us alone. When they had all left, I looked to the Gryffindor with a raised eyebrow.

"Ugly?"

"Oh please," he scoffed, coming towards me, "you know you're gorgeous so stop fishing for compliments." I resolutely did _not_ blush at his words, "But you said it yourself; you wanted me to act like I normally do towards you and that's what I'm doing."

"Whatever." Crossing my arms, I gave him a searching look. "Well? What did you want to talk about then?"

"Let's walk and talk," he instructed as we set off. "Have you sorted anything out yet? What finances are you living on?"

"I've had a separate vault since I was born," I answered honestly, looking at him incredulously. He acted as if this relatively adult conversation topic wasn't an odd thing to be talking about. "It's something about being a McCoy female from birth. My parents used to have money put into it at the beginning of the month and well, that's obviously stopped but my grandmother and great grandmother left me a fortune in their wills. Apparently, it's supposed to belong to the next born McCoy girl? I didn't see the need for it before but I'm grateful now."

"I can imagine." He nodded, glancing down at me for a moment before questioning with forced casualness. "What are you doing for the holiday? Where are you staying?"

"I'm actually thinking of staying here for the holiday," I admitted without any thought as we took the path towards the Slytherin common room. I pretended not to notice the way the gossiping portraits double took at seeing a Gryffindor walking towards the dungeon.

"That's probably a good idea," he agreed quietly, nodding slowly.

I frowned, turning to look at him and found him staring back at me, silently. His gaze was heavy, making me shuffle under his eyes and I played oblivious to just how troubled his eyes were. Merlin, how did he manage to hide anything when his eyes gave everything away? Clearing my throat, I looked away with him so he didn't see how much it bothered me to know that he was so blatantly concerned about me. Recently it seemed like he was one of the very few people to genuinely care about me.

Salazar, just a few months ago and I would have laughed at even the thought.

"Stop looking at me like that," I admonished without any force. Sighing, I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes, "Honestly Sirius. It's weird."

"I'm not doing anything," he protested, trailing off when I raised my eyes to his.

"Don't think that I'm unaware of the concerned looks you keep throwing my way when you think I'm not looking. Just – just stop it and go back to being the way you were before. That'll be more comforting for me. I hate that you're acting like you're walking on eggshells around me. Prank me or something. Please?"

My words took him by surprise, that much was obvious. He shook his head slowly in disbelief before meeting my waiting eyes.

"I'll think of something," he muttered with furrowed eyebrows.

"Good."

With a smile, I looked ahead as we walked the rest of the distance to the common room. My steps felt lighter already.

* * *

Hogwarts during the school holidays was a sight to behold. The corridors that were normally packed with students running between classes were deserted and the castle was unsettlingly quiet. But if there was one thing that the quiet was good for, it was thinking. And thinking was something that I needed to do.

As I entered the great hall for breakfast, I was surprised to see that some other students had chosen to remain in the castle for the holiday. Not many of course, but a handful of students _had_ remained in the castle and I realised, with slight amusement, that even during the holiday they all sat at the right house table rather than sitting together. I made my way to the Slytherin table, sitting down and piling some food onto my plate when Professor Dumbledore approached me. I looked up at the older man with slight surprise.

"Miss McCoy," he greeted pleasantly, "I've come to bring up a matter which was brought to my attention."

"Professor?"

"I received a most troubling message from your parents," he began cautiously, recognising the way I stiffened completely at his words, looking away from him. "Worry not, Miss McCoy. Upon hearing about the matter, Mr Black has spoken to me of it. I believed that it seemed prudent for me to remind you that help is offered at Hogwarts to those who ask."

I nodded at his words but couldn't help but mutter, "It's not his matter to be speaking of."

"Perhaps it isn't," he agreed and I noticed, a little unnerved, that his eyes were twinkling slightly behind his glasses. "But maybe it was the right thing for Mr Black to do. After all, I do not think that you would have approached me of your own volition."

Doing nothing to deny his accusation, I instead glanced away from the headmaster. "Perhaps you are right, Professor."

"That being said, I shall leave you to your breakfast." Professor Dumbledore turned as if to leave, but stopped part way through the motion to look back at me. "Although, if you find some time, please do feel free to drop by my office. I believe we have much to discuss."

"Yes, sir," I murmured as I watched him walk away.

I waited and watched, a little nervously, as Professor Dumbledore walked towards the table at the top of the hall. Only when he had settled down into the headmaster's seat, did I let out a breath and turn back to my breakfast. Although, following my conversation with Dumbledore, my appetite had dulled slightly and I found myself picking at my food. As I ate my food, I found myself wondering what to do with my day now that I had woken up. There wasn't much to do apart from the homework we'd been set. But I wasn't desperate enough to begin working on that just yet.

I was pulled from my musings when two male figures settled themselves besides me at the Slytherin table for breakfast. My eyebrows rose in surprise at finding myself sitting across from half of the marauders. They helped themselves to some breakfast as if they weren't currently sitting at the wrong table.

Both boys raised their heads to look at me and as if they'd rehearsed it, they threw me equally charming grins. Helping himself some eggs, Potter looked briefly away from me and I narrowed my eyes at his best friend.

"What do you two think you're doing?"

"Eating breakfast of course," Sirius snarked back, taking the dish of eggs from Potter who held it out for him to take.

"That's not what I meant," I snapped back, leaning across the table towards the pair of them. "Not what are you doing in the great hall or what are you doing sitting at the Slytherin table. What are you doing still at Hogwarts?"

"Padfoot wanted to stay at Hogwarts," Potter explained as he held out his mug silently towards me, asking me to pour him some pumpkin juice. I obliged as he continued to talk, "Merlin knows why he suddenly changed his mind but I wasn't going to leave him alone to go absolutely mad with boredom. Moony and Pete would've stayed as well but they needed to be home."

"Of course," I muttered dryly, narrowing my eyes at Sirius who was hiding a smirk behind his goblet.

Before I could say anything else, Potter had decided to lose the ability to drink his pumpkin juice and had begun to choke slightly. I looked to him and found him coughing as he tried to catch his breath. Once he had managed to compose himself, he gestured towards me.

"Your hair," was all he said.

With a frown, I picked up some of my hair. My eyebrows flew up in surprise when I realised that someone had charmed my hair to change it into Gryffindor colours. And I knew exactly who that someone was.

Looking across the table towards Sirius, I shared a secret smile with him. I ate my breakfast with more relish after that.

* * *

A few days later, after I had grown bored of exploring the hidden corners of the castle, I made the decision to visit Dumbledore in his office. Perhaps I should have gone to see my headmaster from the very beginning of this issue but I had to admit that I'd doubted he would help me because of my allegiance to Slytherin house. I should have known better than to think that he'd do such a thing.

I took the path towards his office and upon reaching it, I stood still and realised that this was as far as I could go. Professor Dumbledore hadn't told me the password that I would eventually need to announce to the Gargoyle and I hadn't thought to ask for it either. Standing hesitantly before the gargoyle, I bit my lip and wondered what to do.

Before I could think of some solution, the gargoyle stepped aside and revealed the staircase behind it. Furrowing my eyebrows, I looked around the hallway; was it supposed to let people in so easily?

Deciding not to question it, I stepped onto the staircase and waited patiently for it to lead me to the headmaster's office. I soon found myself standing in the headmaster's office, looking around at all of the intricate … things that the headmaster had dotted around his room.

The headmaster himself was sat behind his desk, writing across a piece of parchment but looked up when I had stepped into the room. He gestured for me to approach him and I cautiously made my way towards him.

"The gargoyle let me in without a password," I said a little awkwardly.

"I realised that I had forgotten to supply you with the password," he explained, summoning a chair with the wave of his hand. He gestured for me to sit and went back to his writing, "To remedy my little blunder I instructed the gargoyle to allow you into my office without enquiring a password."

"Oh."

Clearing my throat, I looked away from him and hesitated, waiting for him to ask a question like he inevitably would. Suddenly coming to him seemed like it wasn't the right thing to do – it certainly wasn't the easy thing to do. They were, after all, my parents. But who said that the right thing had ever been easy?

"Miss McCoy," Dumbledore called out gently, setting his quill down to meet my eyes, "I understand that this is a very sensitive time, however I will require your complete cooperation. What was it that you think you saw?"

"I'm certain I saw it, sir." Biting my bottom lip, I let out a deep breath.

Upon seeing my hesitation, he spoke up in a coaxing voice. "At times, we are required to do things we do not want to because it will, eventually, lead to the greater good."

"The greater good," I repeated to myself. The greater good being the downfall of that madman. Making up my mind, I finally confessed, "My parents, Professor, have been marked with the dark mark."

He let out a breath at my words, growing unsettled. "Miss McCoy –"

"I'm certain of it," I interrupted, making him lean back in his seat. "I confronted them upon seeing it and they well, they tried to make me take it too."

The Professor sat up suddenly, eyes moving to my hidden arms. Even without him actually speaking a word, I did what he wanted and pushed my sleeves up. Holding my unmarked arms up for his appraisal, I watched him nod to himself.

Clearing my throat, I continued, "When I refused, they cut off all ties with me and well, I believe you know what happened after that."

"Indeed, I do." Clasping his hands together, he thought for a moment. "Do you know what a pensieve is, Miss McCoy?"

"Yes sir." I took a moment before moving closer to the desk, "You have my permission to take the memory for your pensieve, Professor."

"Thank you for your cooperation." He reached across the desk to remove the memory from my mind and summoned a vial to place the memory in. Corking the vial, he set it aside to look at later. I prepared to leave but stopped when he turned his eyes back to me. "Miss McCoy, please remember that you are not alone in this. Our staff are here, after all, in order to aid our students and I believe your friends will say that same."

"Maybe," I allowed as I rose to my feet.

"If not, then Mr Black is willing to lend an ear." The professor simply smiled at me, turning back to the parchment on his desk which he promptly folded up and placed in an envelope. He held it out for me to take and when it was in my hold, I glanced at it curiously. "If you do not mind, please drop this off for me at the post office during your trip to Hogsmeade."

"My trip to Hogsmeade," I murmured under my breath as I stepped onto the staircase and left his office.

Briefly I let myself acknowledge that I felt physically lighter as I left his office. Stepping out into the hallway, I started at the sight of the boy leaning against the wall and waiting for him.

With an incredulous look I demanded, "How did you know I was here?"

He shrugged, pushing away from the wall, "I have my ways."

"That I'm not surprised of," I muttered as I began to walk towards the common room.

He followed after me, dropping into step with me. Linking an arm through mine, he smiled charmingly down at me when I threw a look his way. I tried to pull my arm away but he held on firmly. With a sigh, I gave up trying to get away from him.

"Do you know what will make you feel better?" he asked with a slight smirk.

"I'm not feeling upset."

He ignored my interruption and continued smoothly, "A date with yours truly."

Rolling my eyes, I pushed him away from me slightly, "Oh please."

"Don't bother trying to get out of it, I'm taking you out for a drink. Godric knows you need one." He winked at me, "Now let's go to your common room to get your coat. It's a little chilly out."

Like he suggested, I didn't bother protesting because he was far more stubborn then I was and chances were, he'd win in our battle of wills. We continued to walk towards the common room and he made an inquisitive sound as he looked down at my hand.

"What's that?" he gestured to the letter in my hand. "Do you need to stop by the owlery?"

I shook my head, "It's Professor Dumbledore's. He wanted me to drop it off at the post office in… Hogsmeade."

How had he known that Sirius would appear to whisk me away?

The Gryffindor only grinned further at my words. "Looks like you were going to Hogsmeade anyway."

"Oh, shut up."

We arrived outside the common room and he gestured for me to go in and told me to hurry out again. Upon entering the common room, I was incredibly tempted to hide inside it and wait him out. But then I remembered the letter I'd been given by the Dumbledore and trudged up to my dorm with a sigh. Summoning my coat with my wand, I shrugged into it before walking slowly back out.

Sirius was waiting for me outside the common room and I looked over him with a contemplative eye. "Are you sure you don't want to stop by the Gryffindor common room to get your coat?"

"I'm a man," he explained as we set off again.

"And what?" I demanded dryly, "Men don't get cold?"

"Relax McCoy, I won't need my coat."

Throwing him a knowing look, I warned him, "Remember what you just said Black, because if you tell me you're cold and use it as an excuse to get close to me, I'll hex you."

He chuckled, shaking his head, "You saw right through me."

"I'm offended that you sound so surprised," I muttered quietly as we headed into Hogsmeade.

When we arrived at the small village, Sirius first took me to the post office where I dropped of Professor Dumbledore's letter. After exiting the post office, he took my arm again and manoeuvred me into the Three Broomsticks.

"Why don't you take a seat, love," he said as we entered the pub, "I'll go order for us. Butterbeer?" Seeing the incredulous look I gave him, he asked, "What?"

"Did you just call me love?"

His lips pulled up at one side, "Why? Did it make your heart race?"

"No." _Yes._

"So? Butterbeer?"

As Sirius headed towards the bar, I settled down at one of the empty tables. After a few minutes of waiting with no sign of an approaching Sirius, I had grown bored of looking at the other customers and looked back to the bar where he was flirting shamelessly with Rosmerta. Glancing away uncomfortably, I straightened up in my seat when he returned to the table.

"I thought you forget about me for a moment there," I muttered as I took my butterbeer from him.

He looked far too pleased at my words and teased, "There's no need to be jealous love." Rolling my eyes, I took a long sip from my butterbeer. Over the rim of my mug I caught the serious expression on his face. "How are you?"

Setting my mug down on the table, I admitted, "Honestly? I'm not sure. It still feels really scary because I've lost the safety net of my family. I can't rely on them to catch me when I fall anymore. And that's so bloody scary."

He hummed quietly at my words, eyes falling to his own mug as he spoke, "I'll always be there to help you. You know that, right?"

"I know," I said with a grateful smile. "I think I just need to find my feet first."

"Hey – at least you've got happy memories of your life with you parents." He tried to smile bravely but no matter how much he tried to hide it, I saw the pain behind his smile. "I don't even have that."

"I'd heard the rumours, but –"

"It's true," he admitted blandly, like he was talking about the weather. It was an odd pattern that I noticed about Sirius; whenever he had to speak of anything emotional that concerned himself, about anything that scratched at those old wounds, he closed himself off. "They abused me with everything but the cruciatus. I guess they were above that, at least."

"I'm so –"

" _Don't_ apologise."

I swallowed down my apologises and offered him a smile when he raised his eyes to mine. He returned it but I could tell that it wasn't quite there. Hesitating for a moment, I looked down at his hands before reaching out to take them in between both of mine.

"Your hands are freezing," I grumbled at the curious look he gave me, "Who told you not to wear your coat."

He shook his head with a slight smile. "I've been doing some apartment searching and I think I've found the perfect one."

I made a face, "That's another thing that I need to begin doing."

"Or you could join me in mine," he offered and I snorted, releasing my hold on his hands.

"I don't think we're at that stage yet Sirius."

"You're right," he agreed with a nod. "We should go on a date first." At my incredulous laugh, he leaned across the table to whisper conspiratorially to me, "Tell you what, you let me kiss you when I drop you back to your common room and I'll call this a date."

I went to say something snappy back but found that I'd lost the ability to do that when I realised that he was being genuine. Salazar.

"You really mean that," I murmured in surprise.

He was unmoved, staring back at me. "Of course I do."

"What the hell," I shrugged, "I'll think about it."

He began to trace random patterns on the table top, playing calm. "Just so we've got everything out in the open; are you talking about the kiss or the apartment?"

"Both."

* * *

Once the holidays had come to an end, the quiet that had enveloped the castle disappeared and was replaced by the usual hustle and bustle of the students. My friends had also returned to school and I had stopped trying to hide my situation. Not that I was advertising it to anyone either. They were also shocked to see the change in my relationship with Sirius – not that I was advertising _that_ to anyone either. I didn't need to be attacked by emotional first years who were heartbroken over losing their one true love.

I emerged from the common room to head down to breakfast but stopped in the corridor upon seeing the Gryffindor waiting for me. Raising an eyebrow, I dropped into his side.

"Why aren't you with your friends?" I asked, growing a little startled when he took my hand as if it was natural.

"They went down to breakfast without me," he explained, swinging our hands as we walked. "I told them I was going to walk you down to breakfast."

"Salazar," I teased, nudging him with my shoulder, "Have I managed to tame Sirius Orion Black, self-proclaimed playboy?"

"I guess you have, love." He wriggled his eyebrows, peering down at me. "Don't tell anyone how you did it or you might find yourself losing me."

"Oh please." I muttered as we headed into the great hall and made a beeline towards the Slytherin table. " _I_ don't even know how I did it – what am I going to be able to tell anyone else?"

"If you're lucky, I might tell you one day."

As I approached my friends, I grew aware of the incredulous looks we were getting from some of the other Slytherins. Merlin, Snape looked like he was going to wet himself. Regulus looked a little freaked out too. I gestured for him to hurry away but he stayed where he was.

"Sirius," I cajoled quietly, trying to push him towards the Gryffindor table.

"I'll see you later," he said, finally deciding to comply. Dropping a kiss to my forehead, he leisurely walked back to the Gryffindor table as if he hadn't rendered the majority of the great hall speechless.

Deciding to take a leaf out of his book, I sat down at the Slytherin table as if I hadn't noticed the incredulous looks that were thrown my way. The venomous glares well – those were harder to ignore. But I managed to do it. When they realised that they weren't going to get any form of reaction from me, all the eyes were lifted from me. Well, almost all of them.

I sighed, realising that my friends were silently demanding an explanation. Raising my eyes to theirs, I shrugged slightly and settled for saying, "A lot happened over the holiday."

It was obvious that my words weren't explanation enough. But I was saved from having to expand on my words when the morning post arrived. A letter was dropped in front of me and I picked it up quickly when I recognised my brother's handwriting on the envelope. Cracking the seal at the back, I let my eyes rove over the words slowly as I finally, finally got a reply from my brother.

"Are you alright?" I didn't look up from the letter to see who had asked me the question. "You've gone a little peaky."

"I – I just need a bit of air," I murmured as I rose to my feet and left the great hall without having eaten anything.

I wasn't sure where I was planning on going, just that I needed to take the time to sort through my thoughts and to come to terms with what I had read. My thoughts flew out of my mind when there was a call of my name. Sirius approached me, cutting in front of me to halt my progress.

He took a hold of my shoulders, peering down at me, "What happened?"

"I got a letter from my brother," I explained quietly, staring up at him. "He told me that he couldn't respond because he was busy investigating our parent's involvement with the resurgence of the dark wizards. He – he, um, had to take them in."

"I'm sorry," he said gently, dropping his hands from my shoulder.

"Don't apologise." Shaking my head slightly, I slumped against his chest and felt his arms come around me. "Salazar, my brother had to arrest our parents for their involvement with dark magic." Letting out a deep breath, I turned to bury my head in his neck and relaxed a little when his hold on me tightened. "I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about anything. Part of me is relieved that they've been caught before they can do anything bad. But I hate that they're probably going to spend the rest of their lives in Azkaban."

"What else did your brother say?" He pulled back slightly, to look down at me.

"He said he was busy gathering evidence to indict them and by tomorrow morning, they'll have been sentenced and our family name will be smeared."

Closing my eyes briefly, I wrapped my arms tightly around him and took some strength from his ever-solid form. He held me quietly, knowing that right now I didn't need reassuring words or promises that everything would be alright. He knew that what I needed the most was his silent strength.

"My brother says that our home was raided by aurors before being handed over to him by right. He's removed the wards that were placed against me and is planning to pick me up from the platform at the end of the year."

Sirius pulled back from me, hands slipping to rest on my hips. His lips pulled up slightly as he teased hesitantly, "So you're not going to be rooming with me, then?"

"I think Lupin will be a _much_ better flatmate than I would have been," I muttered as I stepped away from him.

"But he's nowhere near as beautiful." Tucking my hair behind my ear, he suggested, "Why don't we sneak off to the kitchen to get some food? You didn't get to eat anything."


	2. Epilogue: 3 Years Later

_3 YEARS LATER_

I had already decided that Sirius wasn't allowed to be left alone with baby Harry. The poor lad had only been born a few months ago and Sirius was already talking about buying him his first broom and leather jacket. Salazar, the man had even decided to attach a sidecar to his motorbike 'in case the little Prongslette wants to go for a ride'. Honestly, he wasn't to be trusted around Harry. That was the reason why I volunteered to help him watch over Harry as James and Lily went out for the first time since his birth.

The young parents had left their family home rather reluctantly but, Sirius had been there to usher them towards the fireplace. Lily had thrown me a look from over Sirius' shoulder and I had silently assured her that I'd handle everything. Besides, Remus was only a short floo journey away and I was here to make sure that Sirius didn't cause too much trouble.

But surprisingly, Sirius was on his best behaviour. I had briefly left Sirius alone with Harry as I went to warm up the milk Lily had left for Harry who was bound to wake up minutes later. Once the milk was warm, I tested the temperature on the inside of my wrist as I headed into the front room where I expected to find Harry still resting in his bassinet.

Only I didn't.

I walked into the room to find Sirius cooing at his godson who was staring up at him with wide eyes. Sirius looked up at the sound of my approaching footsteps, grinning when he saw me in the doorway.

"You woke him up," I accused as I walked towards him and sat down on the sofa beside him. Reaching towards Harry, I brushed a finger over the top of his head.

"I did no such thing," he gasped, the picture of innocence. "When I walked past the crib Harry was staring up at me, _begging_ me to get him out of his prison."

"I'm sure," I muttered dryly, giving him a look and reaching out to take Harry from Sirius.

Cradling the young child in my arms, I watched as Sirius tied a bib around his neck. I fed Harry in silence, watching as the young boy made awkward motions with his hand as he drank his milk. Resting his chin on my shoulder, Sirius stared down at Harry.

"Love?" He called out quietly, sounding contemplative. I hesitated, shifting slightly in my seat; this could be a dangerous topic. Harry let out a sharp cry of protest as the movement moved the bottle away from his mouth and I hurried to soothe him, bringing it to his lips.

"What is it?" I risked a glance at him, watching as he drew away from me slightly.

"Do you think he can tell the difference between mother's milk and formula milk?" I looked at him incredulously; well that certainly hadn't been what I expected. The urge to laugh was hard to suppress but he looked genuinely curious so I thought it over.

Once Harry had finished his milk, I removed the bottle from his mouth and started to burp him. "I guess so? It must taste different, right?"

"Do you think?" Tilting his head curiously, he stared down at Harry who, upon meeting his godfather's eyes, let out a large burp. Sirius grinned at the sound only to frown when Harry's eyes began to grow heavy. "Surely he's not sleepy! He _just_ woke up."

"He's a baby, Sirius." Rolling my eyes, I shifted my hold on Harry and he snuggled into my chest. "What else do you expect him to be doing?"

"Playing with his uncle Padfoot," he said as though it was obvious. He looked down at Harry with a soft smile as the infant burrowed into my breasts, trying to get comfy as his eyes closed. "Although, maybe the kid has a good idea? He's got such a comfy pillow."

"Sirius!" He grinned lewdly, ignoring the incredulous look I gave him.

"What?" he protested through chuckles as I rose to my feet, passing Harry to him, "It's not like he can hear me!"

"You're incorrigible," I muttered as I walked around the room, clearing up as I went.

"Oh come on, love," he called out cajoling. "Come back and join us – we can all get some sleep for a while. Let's take a nap."

" _You_ take a nap while I rethink my choice in boyfriend."

"Oh please," he scoffed, lowering his voice when Harry shifted against his chest, "You love me."

There was no point in trying to deny his words; the man knew the truth. So, I made no comment and instead headed into the kitchen to clean and sterilise Harry's bottle.

When I walked back into the room, I found Harry slumbering on the chest of a sleeping Sirius. I grinned, approaching the pair of them to get a closer look when Sirius' hand shot out to catch my arm. I looked down to find him with one eye open before he pulled me down beside him.

"Go to sleep," he murmured, pulling me into his side with one hand and the other hand rested on Harry's back.

"Sirius –"

"Just sleep, you stubborn woman. We'll be awake long before Prongs and Mrs Prongs return."

For once I decided to listen to Sirius without arguing with him. Tucking my legs against me, I rested my head on Sirius' chest and let myself fall asleep. I'd just rest my eyes for ten minutes.

We ended up sleeping for longer than ten minutes and only woke when the Potters returned to find us curled up on their sofa. I briefly heard the click of a camera and opened my eyes to see James standing in front of us with a camera held aloft.

"We leave you to look after our kid and this is what you get up to," he teased as I shook Sirius awake, being careful not to disturb a still slumbering Harry.

Glancing at the clock, I frowned. "You're back early."

"It felt odd to leave Harry alone for so long," Lily explained as she walked into the room. Sirius rubbed his hand over his eyes and looked curiously up at James who still held the camera, when Lily snagged Harry from him. Harry instantly cuddled into his mother who looked down at her son. Lily blinked twice and looked to Sirius. "Is he wearing a deer baby grow?"

"What else was I going to put him in after his bath?" Sirius snorted, "He _is_ baby Prongslette."


End file.
